Similar species:
The male Red-winged Blackbird can be told from the male Tricolored Blackbird by its yellowish, not white, border to the red shoulder patch. Females are quite similar but Tricoloreds typically have darker bellies. Other species of blackbirds lack the red shoulder patch of the male and the streaked underparts of the female.

In 2006 the Tricolored Blackbird was classified as Endangered by BirdLife International. Like the extinct Passenger Pigeon, the colonial nature of the Tricolored Blackbird makes it particularly vulnerable to extinction.

Native grasslands once used for nesting and feeding have been lost to urban and agricultural development. Birds adapting to nesting in agricultural fields have been disturbed by harvesting during the breeding season.

I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections, Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling, Or just after.

Quotation by Wallace Stevens

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